| Copyright 2005-2007 Dr. Jad Khalaf, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved |
| Copyright 2005-2008 Dr. Jad Khalaf, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved |
| "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." II Timothy 2:15 |
| AN ANALYSIS OF THE PASTORAL MINISTRY OF JERRY VINES BY JAD JAMAL KHALAF Life and Times Jerry Vines was born in Carrolton, Georgia. He became a Christian at the age of nine. When he was sixteen years old, God called Vines to preach. After high school, he went to Mercer University. At Mercer, Vines received the Bachelorette of Science degree (B.S.). From there he went to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and received a B.D. degree (similar to a Masters of Theology or Th.M). He then went to Luther Rice Seminary and earned a Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) (Phone Interview, October 28, 2003). Vines married the former Janet Denney. He and his wife Janet had four children. Joy, Jodi, Jim, and Jon are the names of the four children (Vines, Wanted: Soul Winners). Throughout the years, Vines has written numerous books. Some of the books give insight into Vines’ pastoral ministry, other books encourage lay people as well as pastors, while some books are sermons that Vines has preached throughout the years. Basic Bible Sermons on the Ten Commandments, Exploring the Gospels: Mark, Interviews with Jesus, A Baptist and His Bible, Spirit Works, Spirit Life, and The Believer’s Guide to Hebrews are just a few of the books that Vines has written. Pastorates and Pastoral Work Vines has been a pastor of seven churches. The following is a list of those churches: Centralhatchee Baptist Church in Georgia; Bethesda Baptist Church in Georgia; First Baptist Church of Fort Oglethorpe, George; Second Baptist Church in Cedartown, Georgia; West Rome Baptist Church in Rome, Georgia; Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama; and currently at First Baptist Church (FBC) in Jacksonville, Florida (Phone Interview). He has also served as president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Pastors’ Conference, and he has twice served as president of the SBC (Vines, Wanted: Soul Winners and Spirit Fruit). Vines went to FBC Jacksonville in 1982. For several years, he co-pastored with Homer Lindsay, Jr. The church had around two-thousand and six hundred members when Vines arrived. Soon, people began to join. Buildings were being built or bought. Lost people were being saved and baptized. In a matter of time, the three thousand and five hundred seat Ruth Lindsay Auditorium was not capable of seating everyone. So in 1993, under the leadership of Vines, a ten thousand seat auditorium was constructed and finished. In order to accommodate all of the children, a Children’s Building was built in 2002. A Welcome Center was also constructed with the new Children’s Building. FBC Jacksonville announced in 2002 its plans for building a state-of-the-art Senior Adult building. Presently, FBC Jacksonville’s campus consists of nine city blocks. There are more than eighteen thousand members at FBC Jacksonville, making the church one of the largest churches in the United States of America (“The History of FBCJax”). Vines’ church averages nine hundred people being saved and baptized annually. For more than forty years, he has lead and/or participated in weekly visitations. Every week at FBC Jacksonville, Vines leads his people in Tuesday night visitations. He does admit that there is a constant battle, however, when it comes to visiting door-to-door. According to Vines, “Visitation is hard, but there needs to be an effort to do visitation with rich results.” “Just because visitation is hard,” said Vines, “we do not give up.” The New Testament church had obstacles and faced hard times, but Vines acknowledged that the New Testament church did not give up; they continued sharing Jesus. He provided the following advice concerning church visitations: “[I] encourage [you] to give emphasis [on] how to develop evangelism through the local church.” He said that local church evangelism provides the “best and most stable evangelistic work” (Phone Interview). Vines also believes that the “core of growth element is lifestyle evangelism and contact with daily basis” (Ibid.) Vines wrote, “We should apply kindness in our daily activities.” The kindness in Christians’ lives, according to Vines, “very well could be step one to witnessing” (Vines, Spirit Fruit, 85-87). Vines realized that he cannot do anything apart from God. He said, “[I] give mornings to prayer and preparations.” Every day he wakes up, Vines prays and talks to God. Vines acknowledged that prayer is not only a daily priority, but prayer also plays a vital part in his daily life. His messages are prayerfully prepared and his church is prayerfully prayed for. Every Sunday night, Vines has a prayer conference at his church (Phone Interview). Philosophy of Pastoral Ministry Vines believes that church growth consists of a certain type of pattern. According to Vines, “[The] pattern for church growth and development [is] based upon principles in book of Acts” (Ibid.). The principles in Acts has helped shaped Vines’ pastoral ministry throughout the years. “A strong expository pulpit is primary ingredient in building a New Testament Church,” says Vines. He continues, “[I] encourage [you] to study carefully the New Testament commands relative to preaching of God’s Word and seek to avoid falling into the pitfall of some of the contemporary preaching styles which seem to deviate from New Testament principle of doing exposition” (Ibid.). In 1977, Vines wrote Fire in the Pulpit. The editors of the book said the following about Vines: “He considers himself primarily an expository preacher. He loves to use the expository method, taking a passage of Scripture and returning to it again and again for the framework of his message” (Vines, Fire in the Pulpit, Preface). The entire book contains expository sermons that have been preached by Vines. Warren Wiersbe said that a congregation’s attitude toward the Bible can provide insight into “what their pastor has been doing in his pulpit ministry.” Wiersbe added, “I ministered the Word in one of [Vines’] congregations a few years ago, and I was deeply impressed with the way his people responded.” Wiersbe noted that from the congregation’s response, he could tell that Vines had been feeding FBC Jacksonville the Word of God (Vines, A Practical Guide to Sermon Preparation, viii). Wiersbe played an important role in Vines’ preaching method and pastoral ministry. Vines, for the first ten years of his pastoral ministry, actually preached topical sermons. After attending one of Wiersbe’s Bible conferences, Vines decided to change from preaching topical sermons to preaching expository sermons. The decision to change proved a turning point in his pastoral ministry. Vines said, “The people started bringing their Bibles; they showed more interest. I saw growth in the spiritual lives of my people. That convinced me of the value of expository preaching” (Ibid., xii-xiii). From that point on, Vines has filled his pastoral ministry with expository preaching. Another pastoral ministry of Vines involves organization of FBC Jacksonville. His pastoral ministry and church are both organized in the book The Miracle of Downtown Jacksonville First Baptist Church. Vines lays out each ministry of FBC Jacksonville. Each ministry revolves around the church’s mission statement: “To Increasingly Know and Love Jesus Christ and to Continually Make Him Known That Jacksonville May Know Christ” (Vines, The Miracle of Downtown Jacksonville First Baptist Church, 7). The different ministries of the church, through the work of assistant pastors, and their organizations are a representation of Vines’ role as pastor. Vines’ pastoral ministry at FBC Jacksonville consists of three basic principles: “The Word of God, Evangelism and Fellowship” (Ibid., inside front cover). Sunday School, in which Vines places strong emphasis on, is at the heart of the three basic principles. The Sunday School programs at FBC Jacksonville involve groups such as preschoolers, children, teenagers, single adults, and married adults. Vines’ attitude of Sunday School reflects J. N. Barnette’s attitude of Sunday School. Barnette said, “The Sunday School is a church organized for reaching people, teaching the Bible, winning the lost, and developing and enlisting church members” (Ibid., 11). Today, with the help of Vines, the Sunday School department of FBC Jacksonville has more than fifteen thousand and five hundred people enrolled in some type of Sunday School program (Ibid., inside front cover). Contributions to Pastoral Theology and Philosophy In 1987, Vines preached the annual sermon at the SBC. Vines’sermon was titled “A Baptist and His Bible.” The sermon made such an impact that Vines’ turned his sermon into a booklet titled A Baptist and His Bible. “This message by Jerry Vines, ‘A Baptist and His Bible,’ is a wonderful example of scholarship, conviction, and truth presented from a heart on fire and a heart in love with Jesus and His Word,” wrote Adrian Rogers, president of SBC 1987-88. Rogers continued, “The sermon was punctuated with ‘amens,’ applauses, and even standing ovations” (Vines, A Baptist and His Bible, 3). The sermon and booklet’s contributions to pastoral theology and philosophy are in the areas of the Bible’s intention, inspiration, and implications. Vines’ expository preaching is a contribution to pastoral theology and philosophy. For many years, Vines has dedicated his preaching ministry to the exposition of Scripture. He has encouraged other preachers through his expository sermons and through his many books on the subject of exposition of Scripture. Jim Shaddix is one such preacher that was encouraged by Vines. Shaddix took Vines’ books A Practical Guide to Sermon Preparation and A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery, revised them, expanded them, and updated them into one book titled Power in the Pulpit. Shaddix wrote that Power in the Pulpit offers “some relevant, practical help for preachers” (Vines and Shaddix, Power in the Pulpit, 11). Like Shaddix, many other preachers, including seminary students, have been influenced by Vines’ expository preaching. Vines’ emphasis on Sunday School is a contribution to pastoral theology and philosophy. While serving at West Rome Baptist Church, Vines helped the Sunday School department grow from three hundred people to more than one thousand people (Fire in the Pulpit). In addition, FBC Jacksonville’s Sunday School department, with the help of Vines, also grew in people. Vines has realized that a Bible-based Sunday School program that is lead and taught by maturing Christians can change people’s lives and the life of a church. Vines’ fellowship with lay people and preachers is a contribution to pastoral theology and philosophy. Even though he is a pastor of an influential megachurch, Vines fellowships with preachers from all areas. For example, each year Vines hosts the Pastors’ Conference at FBC Jacksonville. Preachers and staff from all over the country attend and fellowship with one another. The conference allows Vines to talk to different pastors each year. The editors of Fire in the Pulpit said, “Dr. Vines preaches not only a warm message-he is a warm human being. He loves fellowship with lay persons and preachers”(Preface). BIBLIOGRAPHY Dr. Jad Jamal Khalaf interviewed Dr. Jerry Vines over the phone on October 28, 2003. |
| Dr. Jad Khalaf |